Game Changer

04/01/2024

A 9-member team of persons with intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, locomotor disability and vision impairment from Open Learning Systems (OLS) participated in the National Nature and Adventure Camp for the Persons with Disabilities at Kharkhola Village in Kalimpong district of West Bengal organised by Himalayan Nature & Adventure Foundation (HNAF), Siliguri from December 18 to 23, 2023.
The team consisted of international, national and state level athletes of Special Olympics Bharat-Odisha-Sarita Routray, Debasish, Neelachal, Chumki, Sagarika, Shakti, Laxmi Priya and Ramachandra.

They were ably led by special educator, Deepak Behera, speech therapist, Divya Bharati Sahoo and caregiver, Bebina Senapati. The main objective of the camp was to build the capacity of the persons with disabilities, provide an opportunity for them to showcase their talent and skills, and mainstreaming them in the society.
The other objective was to make them understand the importance of nature and ways to protect it. The participants were given training in wall climbing, river crossing, commando walk and jungle walk etc.
which they did with aplomb.
The team members also interacted with the villagers living in the mountains and jungles on protection of the environment.
One of the founder members of HNAF, Shankar Majumdar, was full of praise for the dedication of the team from Odisha and the hardships they undertook to participate in the event. The team was able to participate due to the support of Club Tangent 8, BRM-ASHA and Special Olympics Bharat-Odisha. The team was welcomed on their return to Odisha at the railway station in Bhubaneswar by National Rollerskating champion of Special Olympics Bharat-Odisha, Dadhichi and mentor, Biren Kumar Jena. The founder members of OLS, Kasturi Mohapatra and Pratap Rath; the Secretary of Tangent 8, Bhubaneswar, Kawaljit Kaur; the Vice President of BRM-ASHA, Pradipta Rath; the EC member of BRM-ASHA, Preeti Sushama; the Area Director of SOB-Odisha, Prakash Rath and State Program Coordinator of SOB-Odisha, Arpita Mohapatra have congratulated the team members on their successful participation in the camp.

03/01/2024

Challenge people to do their best. ...

“There was a small river near our village, and my father taught me to swim while we bathed. Before long I was sneaking to the river after school. I’d swim for hours every day. My father would physically pull me out of the water at dinnertime. But my village was very traditional and conservative. Adult women weren’t allowed to swim. So I had to quit when I turned fifteen. I didn’t begin again until my twenties. By that time I’d moved to the city, and there was no female instructor at our public pool. So I volunteered. During my lessons, I kept noticing an autistic boy who would stand along the edge and watch. Nobody wanted to teach him. The male coaches were afraid of being bitten and scratched. But I could tell that he was so curious, so I began to play with him. I splashed him. Slowly I touched him. I’d hold his leg and pull him through the water, teaching him how to breathe in and breathe out. He’d climb on my back and hold my neck while I did the strokes. He did bite me. And hit me. And sometimes he’d squeeze my neck too hard. But it was never malicious. In his mind he thought he was doing the right thing. It took a long time—but slowly he learned how to swim. Now he comes running to me whenever he sees me. That experience gave me a weakness for kids with disabilities. I’ve taught over two hundred so far. There is no government support. Nobody comes to see these children. So I go to the villages and seek them out. I teach them to swim in ponds and rivers. When they feel happy, I feel happy. Recently I’ve started my own academy—just for them.”

(Special Olympics World Games, Abu Dhabi, UAE)